


Grudges

by Forest_Girl



Series: The Nagas In the Woods [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: ? - Freeform, I'm not so sure about that tag, I'm sorry I'm a furry piece of shit that likes tf fics, M/M, Magic, Mind Control, Naga!England, Previous mention of an 'examination', and that's the knowledge you need to know about this, i'm not gonna bother to write that just now that somewhat dub-cony sex happened in the past, which had very nasty mentions of sex involved in it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-12 22:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4497312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forest_Girl/pseuds/Forest_Girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was humiliating, degrading, and Arthur couldn't help to hold a grudge against this human. Worst part is, he thinks he is just a mindless animal that doesn't understand what had transpired between them.</p>
<p>So he held the grudge, and then acted upon it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grudge

**Author's Note:**

> I'M SORRY I'M TRASH.
> 
> But screw it it's four AM and I can't sleep. So yeah, you get to see me write something with Nagas in it. This is mainly me taking a small break from New Blood to think of stuff, so don't worry, nothing is being abandoned.
> 
> Yet.

Arthur isn’t one to hold grudges.

Then again, that was when he was in a pack, where holding grudges was detrimental to your odds of survival. He is now in a cell, cement walls too tall and too steep for him to slither out of, and that Researcher is staring at him again.

A week had passed since he was brought in, after a horribly degrading test of sorts to see if he was healthy, which involved Researcher to stick his hands in his mouth and check his scales and his… slit. He still didn’t get why they assumed he was ill if he was so far away from his pack, but he had stopped questioning human’s level of intelligence. That was one of the most humiliating moments in his life, and as such, every time he saw the Researcher, he could not quell the feelings of rage he felt and aimed at the human.

It didn’t help that the bumbling fool had proclaimed that he was his ‘personal researcher’ and that he was meant to observe him daily.

Arthur growled and slithered off one of the few rocks that sat in the sunlight with little to no obstructions in the way. He preferred his solitude over his warmth. The Researcher looked down at the odd contraption in his hands and tapped at it very quickly, and Arthur growled again. Humans and their technology, drag them away from its wonders and they start crying like a new born forced away from their favorite pebble.

It was near the end of his first week there when he was given a reason to act out on his grudge. Researcher, and many of the other humans that worked there, had assumed that all Nagas were as dumb as squirrels. They assumed that they could not experience complex thoughts that weren’t instinctually based, they assumed that Nagas were dumb and dull and couldn’t process what they did during their examinations. Arthur seethed and felt his tail lash at the thought, knowing that, if the Researcher knew that he had felt so much embarrassment after realizing his emotions and body had been manipulated to such an extent to stimulate the response in a mating season, the boy would gag and rush off to the bathroom and actually use his brain for once.

So he planned, and he used the brain the Researcher assumed he did not have.

The cell had varying amounts of plant life in it, presumably to emulate the forest he had called home, and he collected and horded. He made a little ‘nest’ under the tree and found a suitable rock to crush the leaves he had taken into a dust-like mixture. He made sure the human couldn’t see what he was doing, but he could see the human raising his brows and glancing at the black rectangle in his hands and then back to him.

He had overheard some researchers talking about what they do when a Naga goes into their mating cycle. One of them replied that they take them out of their cell and only tie down their wrists, but they don’t drug them in case it messes with their immune system.

So Arthur pretended and hoped that Researcher was dumb enough to fall for his lies. The paste he had made was more than ready, and it was rather easy to hide the tightly wrapped pouch in his slit. It wasn’t safe, but it wouldn’t have any negative effects on him—no. This was solely for Researcher, solely to make him realize his own folly and for him to regret what he’d done.

The next day, he amps it up the act a bit. He starts panting, his tail twitching and writhing like a birther, and going so far as to trick his body into producing pheromones. That might’ve be too much, that might tip off that the whole thing is an act but he has to try, he has to-

And then Researcher is there, and Arthur can’t be bothered to growl because thank the high ones, it worked. He’s put on a table—not the cold, unforgiving one from the examination, but one with cloth and has little bumps that sooth his bothered body—and pulled out of the cell. He keeps up the act, keeps panting and occasionally twitching his tail fitfully, but he can see the somewhat neutral expression on Researcher’s face and he feels that rage climb up his stomach and into his chest, and he has to bite his tongue to hold back the growl. Does he not care in the slightest? If he was a real birther, in the middle of a mating season, would he really be acting with this level of indifference?

Before he could continue the line of thought, he’s brought into the examination room. He looked around, bemused, thinking that he was supposed to go into a different room for this. Seeing how Researcher moved away after locking the table in place, Arthur shrugs and moves to his slit to remove the leaf wrap he had stored there.

“Ah-no, sorry bud. ‘fraid you can’t do that.” Researcher pulls Arthur’s arm away and wraps the leather cuff around his wrist, but Arthur jerks away and lets out the growl that’s been bubbling in his chest since day one. Researcher has the gall to seem scared before Arthur launches himself off the table, wrapping his tail around the human’s legs. Letting out a violent hiss, Arthur takes off his cuff and then takes Researcher’s hand and returns the favor, pinning the human’s arms behind him and tying him up.

“What—no, get off, right now. You are in heat, you aren’t thinking-” Arthur ignored him and reached for his slit again, taking out the leaf wrap. “No! Dammit, I am not another Naga, I am not compatible with you! Get off of-”

Arthur snarled and shoved the paste in his mouth, leaves still wrapped around in. Researcher made the motion to spit it out, but Arthur covered his mouth and pinched his nose, forcing him to swallow it unless he wanted to choke. He sees Researcher swallow and struggle in earnest for air, so Arthur backs off and untangles his tail from the human’s legs. He’s coughing on the ground, curling into a protective ball, and Arthur makes soothing noises; little hisses and slow motions, rubbing at the man’s back as the magic takes affect and runs through his system.

Yes, he was a ‘dumb Naga,’ but Nagas knew much more about the magical properties of plants and what a mixture could do if eaten by a human. It was magic, something regarded as myth by humans, but it would be more than enough for Arthur to enact his revenge.

Researcher finally uncurled after ten agonizing minutes where Arthur had to act like a mother to the boy. His mind was blissfully blank, memories and thoughts scattered and blurry, as if he were trying to grab a fish in a pond. Arthur smiled and hissed, whispering tales of the forests and his pack, and all of the things he would show Researcher if he could just go outside, their bodies gliding through the forests like water.

And suddenly to Researcher, the idea seems great! Get him and Arthur out of here and into the forest where they can be free and live happily, he doesn’t even consider that he has a job here, or that it’s his duty to watch over Alfred and make sure the Naga doesn’t escape.

But that’s lost in the haze of the magic, and Arthur knows that the seed of escape has been successfully planted in Researcher’s mind.


	2. Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I WORKED SUPER HARD ON THIS BECAUSE REASONS.
> 
> Anyways mentions of blood and needles in this chapter in case you aren't okay with either of those things. Also, I am not a medical professional, so I don't know how the hell you would be able to accurately/safely poke yourself with a needle and extract your blood but, y'know, creative license and all of that stuff.
> 
> ((Also skimped over the needle parts because I can't deal with needles, I'm super bad with needles, gomen))

Alfred wakes up and feels like he’s going to vomit. He swallows, tilting his head back and keeping his eyes closed to try to force down the nausea that bubbles in his stomach. He breathes in and out, focusing on keeping his lunch in his stomach before opening his eyes.

This is not his apartment. The walls were a clean, sterile white, with two built in lights blaring above him. Pushing himself into a sitting position, Alfred took in the lack of furniture except for the cot he was lying in and recognized one of the sick rooms in the facility. They had it installed in case there was a disease that a Naga had and they were contaminated, needing to sit it out in a safe environment instead of contaminating the rest of the city.

That didn’t explain why he was here though. Alfred’s head pounded, his stomach twisted, and he’s moving to a bucket placed in the corner of the room to vomit. At some point he heard the door open, and someone was talking to him, but it was lost in the sound of him hurling.

“Well, that basically says you should go home early.” Gilbert Beilschmidt stood in the doorway with a wet washcloth in his hand. “I think you might need this for your face.” He said, and Alfred gave him a shaky grin, wiping his face clean of whatever vomit was let.

“What happened?”

“The Naga wasn’t in heat, either that, or it had flushed whatever it was out of its system by the time we showed up. You were lying on the floor unconscious and the Naga was super aggressive, we had to sedate it to put it back in its enclosure. What did you do to it?”

“Nothing, I just started to strap it down and it started to fight back.” Alfred left out the part where the Naga had shoved something into his mouth, thinking that he really would be quarantined in that case. Most quarantines would last for about three days, but if he said the Naga made him ingest something, he might be stuck there the whole week to make sure whatever it was would be flushed out of his system. Plus, he’d go nuts if he had to stay in this room for any amount of time, right now he wanted to just go home.

“Maybe it was tired of you watching it like a hawk.” Gilbert remarked, crossing his arms over his chest. “The whole team warned you man, the Nagas don’t like being watched like that.”

“Well, I can’t go back in time.” Alfred amends, checking to see that he still has his keys and wallet in his jean pockets. “What time is it?”

“Nearly nine o’clock. You were out for a while, so I decided to stay behind and watch over you.” Gilbert drops his usual smile and gives the younger worker a serious look. “Hey, you sure you don’t want me to drive you? We don’t know what that Naga did to knock you out, and we might put it in confinement for a little while.”

Alfred felt a weird jolt of fear crawl up his spine, and he quickly shook his head. “Nah, I’m fine. I did kind of keep it from getting any pleasure by pulling away its hand so… it’s kinda my fault.” Alfred spit out the words before he was fully aware of what he was saying, only for his eyes to widen as he finished.

“Well, it wasn’t in heat, so who knows why it got so pissy with you. Maybe it likes you?” Gilbert taunted, receiving a quick jab in the shoulder from the blond. Alfred left the room laughing to hide the current knot of fear in his gut.

Why had he defended the Naga?

* * *

Confinement was just like it sounded, they would put a misbehaving or violent Naga in a small cell with no plant life for about a day or two. It was basically just a thing that instilled that they should be more obedient with the scientists, or else they wouldn’t have the ‘luxury’ of being in an area with plants and insects and the like. Normally when Alfred saw this, the Nagas came back more obedient and more willing to listen, so dragging in his Naga would probably be beneficial.

But just thinking about the Naga being confined in a small room, ripped away from anything natural sent a spike of fear and _wrongness_ travel through his body. Sure, he would feel bad if any animal would be put in a cage, but this was just on a completely different scale then someone saying “Hey, we need to put the kitty in the carrier to take him to the vet.”

Alfred could not have been more grateful for the fact that he lived alone in his apartment. Locking the door behind him, he slowly walked into the living room and looked at his collection of video games. He needed to take his mind off of work, off of what had happened with the Naga. Maybe he should ask another scientist to take over his position while he took a break-

There it was again, that feeling of wrongness. There was just no other way to describe it as it curled in his gut and sent shivers up his spine.

Alright then, he wouldn’t take a break, and he wouldn’t let another scientist take over.

He was deciding between a co-op match in Call of Duty and Bioshock Infinite, and when he normally is thinking really hard about a decision, he’d bite the very tip of his thumb. It was just a way to keep his thoughts from getting side tracked and focus on what was in front of him.

So he bit the tip of his thumb, and then he felt white hot pain shoot down his hand. He jerked his hand away from his mouth and stared at the rather deep cut that was spurting out blood every few seconds. Alfred blanched and ran to the bathroom, cleaning the cut and applied pressure to the wound, trying to still the blood flow.

A few seconds later, the rapid bleeding had stopped, and Alfred could see it starting to patch itself, watching as the muscle and skin reformed and stuck together. A minute in the bathroom spent watching, and Alfred could barely tell that there was a cut there in the first place.

That was not normal.

Alfred looked in the mirror, pulling back his lips and staring at his teeth. They were sharpened to points and thinner, like cat’s teeth, almost. He was shaking, and his tongue flicked out to see if they were real, that he wasn’t hallucinating from blood loss.

The tip of his tongue was forked and much thinner and Alfred could _feel_ this and _see_ this. He stared in shock at his changed mouth. This wasn’t normal, this wasn’t possible, his mouth can’t change like that in the span of a few hours for no plausible reason. It’s not—that can’t—

Alfred’s body thumped against the floor, unconscious.

* * *

The next day Alfred came into the facility with more than a little amount of nervousness. He woke up at six in the morning and checked in the mirror again. His teeth were still sharp and malformed, his tongue was still forked, but he couldn’t see any other noticeable changes. Regardless, he still felt a large amount of terror coming in about an hour earlier than normal.

He immediately went to the lab, shuddering when he thought of the events that had transpired the day prior. In the lab was an examination table and some medical equipment, mainly designed for treating Nagas, as they had much thicker skin than most other animals they had. There was also a centrifuge and a chemical analyzer, which they mainly used it to identify blood found on various animals. They also used it to see if there were any genetic conditions they needed to make any adjustments for the animal.

Right now, he only needed to use the analyzer. Taking a sterilized needle and a strap of rubber from one of the cabinets, he managed to make a tight tie around his arm. Finding a vein, Alfred slowly inserted the needle and drew out some of his blood, placing it into a vial and then inserting it into the analyzer for fifteen minutes.

Alfred looked down at his arm. The blood trail was there, originating from the puncture wound, but his arm was fine now. He shuffled uncomfortably, still not used to the fact that his injuries healed unnaturally fast. Moving to the sink, Alfred cleaned his arm under the flow of water, examining his somewhat tanned skin. He noticed with a small amount of fear that a scar he had was also gone. It had come from him picking at a scab for too long and never letting it heal, so the skin was paler and raised slightly, almost like a mole. Now, it was gone, almost like it never existed.

It was unnerving to say the least.

The chemical analyzer let out a low buzzing sound, jolting Alfred out of his reverie. He moved from the sink and back to the analyzer, tapping at the screen to tell the machine that _yes, I know you finished_ and _yes, I would like to see the results_.

His heart froze at the percentages. Hell, he felt his heart freeze when he saw that there was more than one percent, because there should only be the _one_.

**67% Human**

**33% Naga**

Alfred scrambled back to the cabinet and repeated the process, standing for another agonizing 15 minutes as the analyzer ticked away, the green bar on the screen slowly getting larger to show its progress.

It buzzed again. Alfred checked the numbers.

**66% Human**

**34% Naga**

“I’m turning into a Naga.” Alfred realized, feeling panic crawl up his throat. “Oh, God, I’m turning into a Naga.”


	3. Hiss

Arthur hadn’t stopped slithering around the edges of his cell since he woke up.

They separated them. They had the nerve to sedate him and throw him back in this stupid fake prison while Researcher was dragged away from him. He knew that humans were dumb, but this was on a completely different level entirely!

For the first time since he had arrived, Arthur tried in earnest to climb out of the cell. He only managed to make deep gouges in the walls, and cause one of the other workers there to yell at him. His tail wound around itself, and his claws dug into the ground. Arthur’s instincts were screaming at him, to find Researcher and comfort him. There was no way that Researcher hadn’t changed in some way, that he wasn’t panicking horribly, and every part of Arthur was demanding that he go and find him.

Damn this cell, and damn all of Researcher’s allies as well.

Then again, it was also partially Arthur’s fault. He knew that the magic would render the boy unresponsive for a long amount of time, mainly to just get his body used to the feeling of magic that thrummed through all Nagas, and planning out a place for Researcher and him to hide would have been a good plan.

Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.

He had just begun to calm down when one of the other workers came into his cell. He let out a hiss, curling his tail beneath him to hoist his upper body into the air in order to have a slight advantage. The worker held out his hands in front of him and kept talking in a soothing tone, but Arthur showed his fangs and hissed at him, preparing to twist and whack him with his tail.

There was a sharp prick of pain near his spine, and he felt his muscles begin to relax. Arthur’s eyes drooped, and his tail slowly unfurling from the raised curl he made. Someone grabbed his arms and began pulling him back, and Arthur weakly flicked his tail out to try and hit something.

So they had drugged him again. Great.

Again he was strapped down to a moving table, two bands going over his arms and many more keeping his tail pinned and stretched out. Arthur let out a weak growl, trying to fake some bravado, only to be ignored as he was wheeled down a long corridor. Arthur let his eyes close, the drug they injected him with making it incredibly tempting to sleep.

“Thanks for wheeling him in.” Arthur’s eyes snapped open, his instincts going into overdrive when he heard Researcher’s voice. “I would’ve tried to get him myself but…”

“It was no problem, Alfred-san. Are you sure you want to be alone with it?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty restrained right now. Plus, I need to double check to make sure that false-heat thing wasn’t caused by any of the injections I gave it so I can avoid using those if it gets sick.”

“Alrighty then, just call us if you need any help!” Arthur felt the room get significantly colder, the two men leaving the room before Researcher is leaning dangerously close to his face.

“Okay, I don’t even know if you can understand me or not, but you need to undo whatever the hell you did.” Arthur lifted one eyebrow, bemused.

“I’m not joking, this is seriously not cool.” Researcher grew angrier, pulling back his lips and showing his sharpened teeth. Oh, so that’s why he’s angry. Arthur tries to hold back the laughter that’s threatening to come out, but Researcher sees the smile that’s starting to form and inadvertently lets out a growl. “I said I’m not joking!”

Arthur can’t help it and lets out a small chuckle. It’s like seeing a tiny baby having a fit over not being able to eat their favorite food. Researcher lets out a much louder growl, this time noticing it and covering his own mouth in shock.

Arthur laughs, simply because it would be such a natural reaction for a Naga to growl at someone who was being annoying. Researcher instead moves away from him and starts pacing. “You’re probably so happy about this, aren’t you? You get to see me freak out over this while I panic, great for you. It’s just—this isn’t okay! Am I even human anymore? Am I just going to become a mindless animal that doesn’t know anything?”

Arthur can see Researcher becoming tenser, can feel the panic and stress in the air, and his gut twists. This was an unforeseen side effect of doing the spell, his instincts telling him that he had to care for the stupid human. He would much rather have left the boy to suffer and figure out everything himself, but his own instincts rebelled and fought against the very notion of leaving the boy.

His subconscious mind saw Researcher as a child, or a potential mate, and refused to abandon him.

Honestly Arthur didn’t know what was worse.

Seeing Researcher pulling at his hair and mumbling under his breath, tension radiating from his body made Arthur feel like his heart was being crushed. He tried to ignore it, he really did, but he was fighting a losing battle when he heard Researcher let out hisses (and clearly Researcher didn’t realize it, there wasn’t enough instinctual knowledge in the human’s head to be able to translate his hisses into intellectual ‘words’) that scream _panic panic fear scared help fix help help help_ and Arthur—

The older Naga lets out small hisses, comforting hisses that he’s overheard parent Nagas whisper to their offspring in his clan, and he can see Researcher relax. Hisses of _comfort I’m here I’ll help don’t worry you’re okay_ ebb their way under Researcher’s skin and the human looks at Arthur with glazed eyes. He’s letting instinct override his thoughts and that’s relaxing him. That’s good for a whole lot of reasons, but mainly it’s just that Arthur knows that negative emotions like anger and panic increase the speed the magic works. The magic thinks that the host is in danger, so it works twice as hard to give the host better odds of survival.

Right now, Researcher could not have a breakdown. That would only make things worse.

How else could he make things better?

He starts hissing again, changing from comforting to requesting—he would most definitely not call it _begging_ , because he’s not _begging_ — and he goes _untie need to be close touch comfort coiling close love_ (that one makes him slightly sick but screw it, Researcher is probably in the most susceptive state right now and he needs to act on it) and Researcher moves forward, loosening the binds around his arms first before moving down to the ones on his tail.

Arthur’s still woozy, the drug still sluggishly pumping through his body, but he powers through it and sits up, watching Researcher continue to free his tail. He can see the haze slowly lift from Researcher’s mind, and his fingers are starting to become less deft when handling the straps, but at this point Arthur could just lean forward and undo them himself.

So he does what his instincts are screaming at him to do (even though he really doesn’t want to but it’ll probably be more beneficial to the both of them) and hugs the human.

He’s fully expecting to be shoved away, for the human to start struggling and thrashing, thinking he was about to be eaten or some other degrading thing.

He’s not expecting Researcher to let out a choked sound, a sob he thinks, and clings to Arthur like he’s his lifeline.

“What do I do?” Alfred says, and Arthur doesn’t do anything but sit there in silence as the human proceeds to cry into his shoulder.


	4. Smuggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the hit ending to this, but my 's' key is being annoying and I think I managed to weed out the tense errors that would be splattered around here, so I'm proud of this.

Alfred's mind was a mess for many reasons. Realizing that you were slowly losing your humanity because you pissed off an animal was not pleasant, especially when you can see the results of that happening in front of you.

What made it even worse was the fact there was no way he could explain this to, well, anyone. Gilbert and Kiku both worked with him and, yeah, they were good friends, but they would immediately demand that he be quarantined and perform tests upon tests to see what this was doing to him. He did have a twin brother, but he moved to Canada after they graduated from high school to go to college. He would think that Alfred was just telling a joke, after all this shouldn't be physically possible, and it didn't help that most of the world still believed that Nagas were mythical creatures.

Maybe that's why he was hugging the Naga and sobbing into its shoulder, he could vent to it without the risk of being labeled as crazy or someone's science project. It caused this, somehow, and Alfred wanted nothing more than for it to undo whatever it had done but there was either a language barrier or the Naga was just being uncooperative because nothing had come out of this except more stress.

Now it was like he was being comforted by his mother, or someone of that same emotional value to him, and he really doesn't know why. He should hate the Naga, because it's basically ruined his life now, unless he manages to find a 'cure' for this within a few days. He was terrified, mainly because he knew that Nagas didn't have legs, they had a tail that was covered with scales and he was so,  _so_  scared of losing more of himself.

Alfred pulled away from the Naga, wiping at his face to get rid of the tears on his face. He chuckled weakly, leaning against the counter that had the chemical analyzer.

He was 66% human. Hell, probably less, considering it had been an hour since he had taken the last sample. For all he knew being close to the Naga sped up the progress, but he needed to try and do something.

"What would I have to do…" Alfred began hesitantly, fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt. "To convince you to help me? Or, well, fix whatever you did, at least."

The Naga stared at him, confused, and Alfred let out a sigh. Maybe there was a language barrier. Nobody had bothered to test and see if Nagas understood any form of human language, so it was entirely possible that every word Alfred said was just going in one ear and out another. Alfred tilted his head back and ran his fingers through his hair.

God, how was he going to fix this?

He heard a thump and looked down, seeing that the Naga had flopped off of the table. He vaguely remembered taking off the restraints, almost like looking through a thick cloud of fog, and he watched as it slowly makes its way over to him, using the counter as support to pull itself up to Alfred's height.

"What do you want now?" The Naga let out a low hiss, its pupils contracting slightly and Alfred feels himself relaxing again, falling into that fog that had settled around the edges of his consciousness—

Alfred shook his head and covered his ears, pushing off of the counter and away from the Naga. "Nope! Nope, I'm not going through that again. Can't make me do stuff I don't want to, lalalalala!"

The Naga narrowed its eyes at Alfred's childish act, but it closed its mouth and ceased its hissing. Instead, it lifted the very tip of its tail up and pointed at the door. "I can't bring you out unless you're on the table, bud." The Naga rolled its eyes and pointed at itself, then to Alfred, and then pointed at the door again more insistently. When Alfred continued to give him a blank stare, the Naga put it head in its hands and pointed at a small window that was in the corner of the room. It simply showed one of the other rooms that were connected in the building, but it became clear what the Naga wanted to Alfred.

"You want out." Alfred stated, and he was rewarded with a nod from the Naga. "If I smuggle you out, bring you to the woods and all of that stuff, you'll fix this?"

Another nod.

"Okay." Alfred breathed out slowly, moving to bite his thumb before he remembered that he would cut it open if he did. Granted, he healed much quicker now through his new Naga healing, but it still hurt. "Okay, I can do that. Not now, it would be too suspicious now, but later. Near closing, or something."

The Naga looks so,  _so_  pleased with itself, and Alfred feels sick to his stomach.

* * *

The first thing Alfred does is make sure that the security cameras that are in the Naga's habitat are on a loop. He does the same for the one in the halls that lead to the parking lot, and he makes sure that he can easily take one of the transportation trucks without being seen. Alfred normally took the bus or the subway if he could spare the cash, and then walk back to his apartment, since he didn't own a car.

Either way, he doubted that he would be able to find any car that would have enough space to hold a transport cage big enough for a full-grown Naga.

At 8:30, most of the staff was gone, so Alfred let out a breath and grabbed the transport cage and pulled it into the enclosure. The Naga was lying down near the root of the largest tree there, but its head snapped up at Alfred's entrance. It growled lowly at the sight of the cage, which was essentially just a box with breathing holes and wheels. It was purposefully designed like that, made to not further disorient the Naga if there was a sudden time change. It was also a security measure in case they started thrashing or became extremely enraged, making sure that the extent of any damage was to itself rather than a fellow worker.

"Look, I know you don't like the cage. Hell, I don't like it either, but there's no other way I can easily sneak you out of here without someone seeing or hearing you." Alfred heard its growls increase in volume, and he felt the stupid urge to submit and say 'Hey, never mind, you can slither beside me' and say he was wrong.

He really hated Naga instincts, he really did. "Look, I know, alright? You want out? You gotta get in the box so I can do that."

The Naga looked at the box, then at Alfred, and then back to the box before it moved from the tree and slowly creeped over to the box. Keeping its eyes locked on the blond the whole time, the Naga curled its tail until it could fit in the box and then lowered its lower body in. It gave Alfred a look that screamed "If you kill me, I will haunt your ass in the afterlife" as the biologist closed the lid of the box and began to roll it out of the enclosure.

The hallways were easy to deal with—again, most of the staff was gone—it was the parking lot that Alfred was more worried about. Someone could simply be sitting in their car and see him wheeling out a clear transportation cage, or in the morning they could link him to the missing car, or something else that would get him caught.

But no, Alfred managed to push the cage into the trunk of the car and start it with little to no problems. As he drove out of the facility, he could only sigh in relief and feel the tension flow out of his body.

They were out.

* * *

It was nearly 10 at night when Alfred managed to get to the edge of the city. The vast forest was in front of him and the Naga, who he had let out only a few moments ago.

"So I held up my side of the bargain." Alfred started, putting his hands in his pockets as he stared at the back of the Naga's head. "You mind returning the favor?"

The Naga turned around, its pupils paper-thin slits as it stared at the human.

Then it lunged at Alfred, who couldn't react as he was knocked off his feet by the Naga's tail.

His head hit the back bumper of the truck, and the world went blissfully black.


	5. Guilt

Arthur had lied. He felt awful about it, he honestly did, but he needed to lie for this to work.

Problem is most magic that Nagas know is, in fact, reversible. A simple counter spell will do it, or the magic only works for the one day and then it’s over.

Magic like this—old, strong magic that can change someone’s species into something completely different—is near-irreversible. If you had years of experience, and a very deep, prominent connection with magic, you had a slim chance of undoing something of that magnitude. However, Arthur didn’t have that strong a connection with his magic abilities, nor was he old enough to have ample experience to ‘fix’ Researcher.

So he had lied, said that he could restore Researcher’s humanity when in all honesty the only hope he had would be to find a strong, elder Naga who hasn’t forgotten how to perform magic in their old age.

Every time he looked at the boy in his arms he felt his gut twist with guilt.

Well… maybe it wasn’t guilt.

He knew that Researcher could not go back to the other humans, scales would soon grow in (or maybe they had and Researcher’s pelt hid them) and then after that would come the tail. If any other humans found him, he would be skinned alive.

This is where the confusion came in. He shouldn’t be going this far to protect this boy. He shouldn’t feel this level of attraction towards a human that he had wanted to suffer only a day ago. Maybe his instincts were messing with his mind, screwing him over this one useless naïve human who was willing to risk so much to get him to his home—his clan in the thickest parts of the woods.

God, he was going to kill the whole clan doing this.

But…

He couldn’t leave the boy behind. He couldn’t find it in himself to do so, his heart clenched at the thought of leaving Researcher behind.

Those thoughts didn’t make Researcher any lighter, though. Every few minutes Arthur would have to adjust his grip on the human to make sure he didn’t bang his head on any trees or the ground. He was thankful for the cover that the night had given him, as the journey to his clan was a slow going one with the added weight. He would be grateful when Researcher had his own tail that he could control, and Arthur knew deep down in his gut that the human would turn into one of the fastest Nagas he would ever have the pride of meeting.

But was it his instincts or his own feelings that were giving him this odd sense of pride at the thought of Researcher’s future. It was a confusing cocktail, as he still didn’t know if Researcher would even return any feelings the Naga would offer him, or if his feelings were genuine or not.

Instincts were confusing. Feelings are confusing. Both crossing and twisting into something weird and wrong was even more confusing.

Researcher however, he was the most confusing thing that had ever come into Arthur’s life. 

* * *

It dawned on Arthur around sunup that they would not be able to make it to his clan’s home in time. He was tired from both carrying Researcher and having to move all throughout the night at such a slow pace. He managed to find an old tree that had pushed its way out of the ground, a decent sized ‘cave’ of sorts hidden underneath. After he checked that the tree wasn’t about to collapse anytime soon, he managed to squirm through some of the root and make their way into the temporary home.

He was incredibly tempted to sleep and get some form of rest before they would set out again at dusk, but he wanted to see how far along in the transformation Researcher was first. He struggled with Researcher’s pelts, as his own clan never really bothered with them. They would simply hibernate through the winter, nibbling on any food they had in stock if they ever woke up. Even then, they never had anything like this around their lower bodies, and it only inspired more frustration as Arthur continued to fail at taking off the pelt.

After struggling with it for a few more minutes, Arthur finally got the pelt off and let out a triumphant hiss. The material felt light, but thick, and he could see why many human preferred to wear them instead of walking around bare-legged.

This success also allowed the Naga to see the spotting scales beginning to trail down from his hips. They were a dark blue, and in the low lighting of the cave, Arthur almost mistook them for black scales. They were mainly clumped around the top of Researcher’s hips and slowly began to spread out near his upper thighs. However, Arthur noticed that none of the scales seemed to avoid one protruding muscle that was above the area where his legs met his hip. The Naga arched his brow, but he simply shrugged his shoulders. The progression of the scales seemed to be somewhat random, covering some areas and thickly coating others, so Arthur simply chalked it up to the magic being oddly selective.

What really grabbed his attention were the paws of the human. He had to take of the (much thicker and durable) pelts covering them, but they were… _interesting_ , to say the least.

He’s killed and eaten many rabbits in the past, as well as foxes and other mammals, but Researcher’s paws looked completely different looking than most other animals he’d seen. Like his hands, the claws weren’t sharp in the slightest, but unlike his prey there were five little fleshy bits on the end. Arthur poked at the tiniest one, flinching when he saw the paw twitch at the prodding.

Arthur let out a small hiss and moved away. Human anatomy was confusing—well, everything that wasn’t a tail was confusing, he could understand their upper bodies just fine. The Naga maneuvered his tail was blocking the exit, but he could lay his upper body down and keep an eye on Researcher.

And with that, Arthur closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

He woke up when he felt two hands pressing against his tail. Arthur’s eyes snapped open, and he reared his upper body up defensively only for his head to slam into the roof of the cave. Letting out an irritated growl, Arthur opened his eyes and glared at Researcher, who had backed into the furthest corner of the cave, desperately covering his lap with his hand.

“Where are we?” Arthur grumbled and rubbed at the bump that had formed on his head, curling his tail closer to his body. “Don’t ignore me! You attacked me and then… what, dragged me all the way out to the middle of the woods? What about fixing me? Are you even going to _try_ to uphold your end of the bargain?”

Arthur rolled his eyes and began to hiss at the human, trying to comfort him and get him to calm down and just forget about this whole situation, but Researcher only covered his ears and curled into a tight ball. “Stop it! Just- stop it!”

Arthur felt his heart do that stupid clenching thing, and he stopped, fastening his gaze to the ground. “Please just… just fix this, please.”

Arthur gave Researcher the most pitiful look he could manage. “I’m sorry, but… I _can’t_.”


	6. Scales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I... I can't even begin to say how thankful I am for all of you who commented and left kudos and various other things with this story. All of your support has kept me updating for these past days, and I've never been happier to post a new chapter daily for a very, very long time.
> 
> You are all amazing, and thank you for staying with me so long.

Alfred stared at the Naga in disbelief. On the inside, he was more than a little angry that the Naga had—more than likely—just been difficult and there wasn't a language barrier. Right now, however, he was more focused on keeping his anger aimed at what the Naga just said.

"What do you mean, 'you can't?'"

"It—it's complicated, and it's near impossible for me to reverse. If I try, it may well kill you or me in the process, and I know that you don't want to die." The Naga has the gall to look upset after he said that, but all Alfred could see was red.

"So you're going to go back on your word? After I did all of that to get you out?"

"If I didn't say I could I wouldn't be able to get back to my clan. I—I can't tell you how sorry I am but I couldn't think of any other way I could somehow convince you to take me back." Alfred let out a growl, no longer caring whether he sounded human or not as he stood up and moved to the exit. "Where are you going?"

"Home!" Alfred pushed away the tree roots that guarded the exit and stood in the mid-afternoon light. "Or maybe I'll just run. Anything to get away from the likes of you!"

"You know you can't go back to the humans!" The Naga was surprisingly fast when it wanted to be, Alfred learned, as it quickly darted in front of him. "You're already growing scales, and soon the tail will form. If any human see you, they'll skin you alive!"

"And do what, stay with you instead? I'd much rather be dead." That was a bold faced lie, and the Naga could tell. Its tail swept Alfred's feet out from under him and then wrapped around his torso in a near-suffocating grip. It then leered over him and let out a deep growl, pulling back its lips and showing its fangs. Alfred felt a jolt of fear run down his spine, and he tilted his head back and shows his neck in a sign of submission.

"Look," The Naga ceased growling and loosened its grip on Alfred. "I can't help you, but another Naga could, and there's no way I could have articulated that to you at the time."

"So then why are you 'articulating' this to me now?"

"Because now you can understand me! There is a language barrier, if I talked to any other human right now, it would sound like I was spouting gibberish at them. You start to process my language around the time scales appear."

"I have scales?" Alfred struggled against the Naga's tail, which tightened in warning. "Christ, let go, I need to see-"

The Naga growled, and Alfred showed his neck again. It was an instinctual reaction, but at this point Alfred didn't know if it was more human or Naga at this point. "Look, we'll keep moving towards my clan and see if any Nagas can reverse this. Until then, refrain from scratching at your legs and paws, it will only make the whole process hurt."

Alfred nodded, and the Naga unwound its tail. The human rolled his shoulders and looked down at his lap.

It was a somewhat awkward moment to realize that he didn't even have his pants on, but it allowed him to see the blue scales beginning to dot down his legs. Now that he thought about it, he noticed that it felt like his legs were asleep. He could feel them, and the heavy feeling wasn't there, but that weird buzzing feeling was slowly crawling up and down, up and down, and he was really,  _really_  tempted to scratch at them.

The Naga's watchful gaze, however, kept him from doing so. He let out a sigh and went back down into the cave, finding his pants, underwear and shoes with little difficulty and putting them back on. The Naga had glared at his clothing with clear disgust before turning away and slithering off into the deeper parts of the woods, Alfred following not too far behind.

"So," Alfred attempted to strike up a conversation. "Do you have a name?"

"Arthur." A heavy silence fell between the two of them, only broken by the sound of Alfred's feet crunching the dead leaves that littered the forest floor.

"I'm Alfred."

Silence.

"Why do you wear those?" At Alfred's confusion, Arthur gestured at the human's pants and shoes. "I mean, what is the point?"

"They keep me warm. They also keep my skin from getting cut and stuff." He heard the Naga grumble and then focus on the path in front of them, another tense silence taking up the space between them.

Alfred sighed and decided to drop the idea of talking to the Naga. He had never really been a good conversationalist anyways.

* * *

It was nearly dusk when Alfred tripped over a tree root. The two had taken small breaks every few minutes to eat, drink or simply take a small rest, but over time Alfred had felt the buzzing feeling decrease. He had assumed this was a good thing, maybe he was resisting the urge so much that he couldn't detect it anymore.

When he realized that he couldn't move or feel his legs after falling down, he began to think that maybe it wasn't a good thing that the buzzing had gone away.

"What's wrong? Too tired to move on?" Arthur sneered at him, and Alfred rolled his eyes. He probably thought that he was superior because of his increased endurance, and was taking pride in one-upping the American.

"I can't feel my legs." It was Alfred's turn to sneer as he saw the Naga's face shift from prideful to scared in a matter of seconds.

"Dammit, you should have told me sooner you absolute git!" Arthur darted over and ripped up his pants leg, and Alfred stared at the mass of scales that completely covered it. Arthur then ripped off his shoe, only to see nothing but blue scales.

Alfred couldn't tell where his toes were.

Now he was beginning to panic.

Before he could process it, Arthur had hefted him into his arms and began speeding through the forest, ignoring Alfred's protests for him to stop and wait a minute because his jeans felt uncomfortably tight right now.

They stopped in a clearing, the Naga letting out an annoyed growl and muttering "It'll have to do" under his breath before dumping Alfred on the ground and ripping off his pants and boxers, his other shoe flying off in the process.

"What are you  _doing_?" Alfred said, moving his arm over his crotch in embarrassment.

"Your tail is forming." Arthur said, slithering to the edge of the clearing and back, clearly agitated. "I was hoping it wouldn't form before we made it to my clan and my den, but this is the best we can do on such short notice."

Alfred opened his mouth to argue, to say that they could keep moving, but his words choked on a scream. He couldn't feel his legs, but his muscles and bones were clearly protesting against the foreign feeling in his lower body. He arched his back, letting out an inhuman growl as his fingers dug into the soft earth beneath him.

Arthur was there, hissing sweet nothings as he held Alfred's head in his lap. The human (could he still be called a human anymore? He clearly wasn't, his legs were disappearing for all he knew because he was  _not_  going to look down right now) let out a delusional laugh. It was such an odd comfort, the mix of human and Naga fighting, but his humanity was slowly but surely losing to these new instincts, this new life.

"What-" Alfred bit back a groan as another feeling of  _horrible bad stop_  crawled up his spine. "What did you do to me? When you shoved that stuff in my mouth?"

"I told you stories." Arthur brushed his clawed fingers through Alfred's hair. "Stories of the first hunt I was a part of, stories of Francis—I think you might like him, or at least be able to relate to him—and how he came into the clan, stories of the forest and all the great things that come from it."

The more Arthur talked, the more relief Alfred felt. His voice is a nice distraction from the discomfort wrecking his body, and he can somewhat remember the stories that Arthur told him.

He was losing it. His humanity, whatever conscious thoughts he was currently experiencing, was nearly gone. When he would 'wake' from this, he knew he would be different. He'd be a Naga. He wouldn't be the same Alfred he was a day prior.

He was horribly, irrevocably scared.

"Promise me." He said between breaths, on the verge of falling over the proverbial deep end and submitting to whatever instincts were coming out of this new life. "Promise me you'll fix this, that you won't just leave me, and that you didn't do this only to get out. Please."

That tense silence filled the air again, and Alfred felt his pupils contract into thin slits as he fell, he fell so far and so deep and he no longer has a say in what his body is doing anymore.

Before he lost it completely, he heard Arthur's choked voice say "I can't."


	7. Twitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE.
> 
> Also I feel like this chapter is kind of lackluster but I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS FUCKER BEFORE SEPTEMBER FIRST I SWEAR TO ALL OF YOU and you need something as sustenance.
> 
> But yeah, nearly done and then (maybe) smut!

Arthur knew that this part would be the worst of it. He couldn't even begin to imagine his tail being split in half and new bones forming, or the resulting pain that would come from such a feat.

But that wasn't why he was worried. No, he was more concerned over what Alfred would do to him, because when the ex-human opened his eyes, there was not a scrap of his personality in there.

Alfred let out a savage growl and dug his clawed fingers into Arthur's chest, causing the older Naga to rear back with a hiss. Alfred rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself into a sitting position, showing his fangs and growling at Arthur.

_Bad stay away evil hurt me demon pain stop bad bad bad STOP_  he growled, and Arthur could only roll his eyes. Alfred was reduced to instinct and primal urges, so talking him down wasn't going to work. Not only that, but the ex-human was stuck in place and wouldn't be able to move around efficiently without assistance, so if it came down to a fight, Alfred would most definitely lose. Right now, this was just a show of dominance, and considering Alfred's prior behavior, Arthur was pretty sure he would win.

Then again, that was Alfred. Right now he was dealing with a very angry, near-hysterical in pain Naga who probably didn't even recognize Arthur.

_Weak no fighting help you let me no pain no claws no fangs safety help you help you-_ Arthur stopped when Alfred lunged and snarled, but he only succeeded in knocking himself off balance. The older Naga took his chance and darted forward, wrapping his tail around Alfred's arms first before coiling down to the other's half-formed tail.

_LET GO!_  Alfred thrashed against Arthur's hold (and he had to admit the boy was strong, a little bit of experience and practice could bring him a long way).  _Let go let go it hurts get off leave it hurts it hurts it hurts HURTS HURTS HURTS_

Arthur lessened the pressure of his hold on Alfred's tail, and the ex-human' head fell back against the ground, a pitiful whimper leaving his throat. The Naga brushed down a stray clump of Alfred's hair, feeling a shiver run down his spine when he noticed that Alfred had turned his attention to him.

His eyes looked so strange, so different and… not  _Alfred_  that it was both heartbreaking and terrifying. His pupils were slit and filled with mistrust, the Naga instincts dictating that he was trapped and was probably about to die because Arthur had him pinned and trapped and in pain.

So Arthur sucked up the last of his pride and hissed, low and soothingly, to the young man.  _Comfort love love you so much care for you help you love you love love love happiness comfort care for you love help you comfort._

_Liar._ Alfred sobbed, his voice slightly coking the hiss as it came out, but it was clear enough for Arthur to distinguish from just a mindless noise.  _Liar you hurt cause pain demon ruined me can't go home Mattie Gilbert Kiku gone can't see can't go home you lie lie hurt me leave me alone!_

Arthur winced at the boy's depressed voice, tears running down his cheeks. Yes, in this stage of changing, it's mostly instinct at this point, but that didn't mean that they didn't carry over any memories from before. He didn't know any of the humans that Alfred had mentioned, but even he could understand the pain of losing family.

He shook his head. Right now, he had to focus on Alfred.

_Sorry._  Arthur watched as Alfred stared, unblinkingly at his face. The Naga could feel tears running down his cheeks, and he wiped at them with the back of his hand before continuing.  _I'm sorry I'm sorry sorry sorry fix if I could but I can't sorry forgive me want to help sorry stay still no pain let me help you._

Arthur closed his eyes, fully expecting a litany of growls and hisses to come from Alfred. When nothing came, the older Naga carefully opened his eyes and saw Alfred tilting his head back and showing his neck, keeping completely silent.

It was a sign of submission.

Arthur had won.

* * *

Alfred woke up (he had either passed out or fallen asleep at some point) groaning. The older Naga let out a sigh of relief at the visible coherency in the other eyes, although they were still somewhat clouded. Arthur assumed that it was because of the pain the tail was causing, but Alfred would just have to tough through it.

After all, Alfred couldn't pull himself by his arms the rest of the way to the clan.

"Wha' happened?" Alfred slurred out, trying to push himself up. Arthur was tempted to look around and try to find any herbs that could relieve pain, but he was more focused on making sure that the boy didn't panic and relapse.

"You fell into your instincts. Don't worry, it happens to everyone at one point or another." Arthur unwound his tail, and moved around, letting his tense muscles stretch and move after the countless hours of staying still to keep the other from thrashing. "Be glad that you weren't around during one of Ivan's relapses. Last time he nearly knocked my head off my shoulders, and they needed at least three to keep him somewhat subdued."

Alfred stayed silent, staring down at the long limb that had replaced his legs. It subconsciously wrapped around itself, a sign that he was nervous and scared, and Arthur placed his hand on the ex-human's shoulder. "I'm sorry. If I could reverse it, I could."

"I'm fine, just…" Alfred managed to control the muscles around his waist to keep him up straight without his arms to support him. He still needed to keep his arms out to help him keep his balance, but the act of partial control caused Arthur to raise his brow, impressed. "Tell me how to move this thing."

"Alright then, here, lean on me." Alfred put one of his hands on Arthur's shoulder and the other clung onto the side of his chest. "Alright, now I'm going to move forward, and you are going to try to move your tail and keep up with me. I don't want to drag you across the clearing the entire time, I need you to at least  _try_  to move it and propel yourself forward. After you figure it out, it should come naturally for you."

"Okay,  _mom_ ," Alfred said sarcastically, adjusting his grip and pulling his waist up. "Can we get this over with?"

"Fine." Arthur pushed forward, taking a small amount of pleasure at the other's startled yelp. "Start moving."

If it weren't for the fact that Arthur knew that the boy had just gone through losing his legs, and that the teenager was groaning in pain every few inches that he moved, then the older Naga would have said that he was in more pain. Alfred's nails dug and tore into Arthur's skin, and he knew it would scar (and those would be embarrassing as hell because Francis was a  _bastard_ and could string up the most ridiculous explanations). At the same time, his muscles were screaming in protest at practically carrying Alfred around the edge of the clearing—though he would admit the boy was trying and would occasionally pull his own weight. It was only a matter of time until he moved as fluently as any born Naga, but for now, the current arrangement would suffice.

It was frustrating, more than anything else. Arthur didn't like the fact that they were making little progress, as they had to move slowly and every half an hour or so they would both need a break to rest. Alfred didn't like that his tail was nearly useless and, while he had gotten some grasp over the muscle movements, it was nowhere near enough to keep up with the more experienced Naga, and he felt useless.

"How much farther?" Alfred asked during one of their breaks.

"Not much. If we keep at our current pace, we should be there in about a day." Arthur replied, curling into a tight ball. "Right now, we should get some rest, you especially."

Alfred frowned and stared up at the sky, the moonlight barely piercing through the thick branches overhead. "Y'know, when I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut."

"Astronaut?"

"They're people who... well, I guess the easiest way to describe it is they fly up really high. Like, beyond the clouds and all they can see is are the stars."

"Why would any human want to go that high up?"

"Because we're curious, and we wanted to see what everything up there looked like."

"So how did you end up looking after me if all you wanted was to fly?"

"I got my dreams crushed by my family. They said that I couldn't be an astronaut, and that I should focus on getting a job that would actually happen." He let out a dry chuckle and got his tail to cooperate somewhat and get it to wrap around itself like Arthur's. "If only they could see me now."

"I think they would be appalled." Arthur murmured, already drifting off to sleep. "And I'm pretty sure that they could care less about your occupation at the moment."

"Yeah, missing person reports tend to do that." Silence settled between the two and, just as Arthur was about to fall asleep, Alfred spoke once more. "I'm never going to go back am I? We're never going to find an elder that can change me back, and I'll be stuck like this for the rest of my life."

"We might never, you're right." Arthur slurred out, sleep clinging and pulling down whatever filters he had put up before. "I'm sorry, I really am. I want to undo this, I swear it."

"I know." Alfred waited until he thought that Arthur was asleep. "I accept your apology."

Arthur smiled, and the duo fell into a dreamless slumber.


	8. Abandon

Alfred woke up to a blood-curdling scream and a punch to his face.

Alfred was unnaturally warm for Naga standards, which was an unforeseen side-effect of him being a human originally, and when Nagas sleep they tend to go towards the nearest heat source subconsciously. When they slept alone, they tended to just curl into themselves, but since Alfred and Arthur were close to each other…

Well, apparently Arthur had woken up latched onto Alfred with their tails entwining, and him resting his head on the ex-human's chest.

"I am truly sorry." Arthur said as he looked at the skin around the eye. Alfred hissed as the other pressed against the injury, and Alfred was annoyed that Nagas didn't have any ice packs readily available. At best, it would only be bruised and that would be all, but it could potentially turn into a black eye.

"Quit apologizing, I'm fine." Alfred grumbled as his tail twisted in the grass. "I mean, I'm hurt but it won't kill me."

"Not unless it gets infected. C'mon, lean on me, we aren't that far from the clan now."

Today was fast moving compared to yesterday. Alfred had figured out how to move his tail, but he still wasn't moving as fast as a Naga his age would. Because of that, Arthur did have to pull him up a few times to make sure they stayed side by side, as the last thing they wanted was to split up when they were close to the clan. The other Nagas might see Alfred as a rogue and attack him, but if Arthur were nearby then he would be fine.

(He tried to ignore the weird fluttering in his chest at the thought of Arthur protecting him, because it should just make him angry that he has the muscle movement level of a new-born and can't take care of himself, but instead there's a weird feeling of warm and comfort. He blames it on the Naga's instincts, but at this point he's not if the excuse would hold at this point.)

It was a few hours after they woke up when they made it to a dip in the ground. Alfred gagged and shook his head at the wave of smells that came over him, both that it was completely different from the clean forest air he was smelling and the feeling of  _danger_  surrounding it. The atmosphere was so oppressive and heavy he felt like he was about to walk onto death row, and he immediately moved back until the smell wasn't as intense.

Arthur, on the other hand, paled and darted forward, forgetting about Alfred. His gaze swept across the area, and Alfred saw his tail tip twitch in agitation as he examined the bushes. The ex-human inched back into the open clearing, doing his best to ignore the fear crawling up and down his spine.

He wasn't just scared because of the feeling this place gave off, but he was also scared of how Arthur seemed to become more agitated the more he looked around.

"Arthur?" Alfred heard the low growl coming from the older Naga, and he raised his torso up off the forest floor. "Are you okay?"

"They're gone." At the younger boy's silence, Arthur whipped his tail against the ground and let out a snarl. "They're  _gone_! This is where the clan was and they are gone! You can smell them, but they left and there's no possible way we can know where they went!"

"Maybe we can trace them?" Alfred suggested. "I mean, there's got to be something they left behind or some sort of trail-"

"They think I'm dead." Arthur snarled, claws gouging tiny lines in the dirt beneath him. "That's the only reason why they would leave. Nagas don't abandon members of their clan for no good reason. Did they think I'm useless? That I wouldn't be able to get out? Did even  _Francis_  have no hope in me?"

Oh. That's why he was upset. Alfred slowly moved up to Arthur and held the other in a loose hug. He could understand the feeling of being abandoned, he's had to abandon his own dreams, and his parents seemed to favor Matthew simply because the other was more realistic with his goals. Even though he didn't know a lot about Arthur, he could tell that the other was sort of like an explosive. If you didn't handle him carefully, then he could explode and give both of them irreparable damage.

"We'll follow after them," Alfred said, the hushed tone a sharp contrast to his normally boisterous personality. "And we'll tell them you're not dead and that you got out. Maybe we'll find an elder and maybe we won't, but for now I'm here and we'll live."

It was then Arthur broke down, letting out a shaky sob as he fell back into Alfred's arms. The American's eyes widened a tiny fraction before he shifted his hold and held the Naga in a tighter hold.

"We'll figure this out, okay?"

Arthur let out a shaky breath and wiped at his eyes. "Okay."

**END ARC 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> So, in that update thing I posted back near the beginning of August, I said that this fic would be done by the time I go back to school, and that there would be a short hiatus.
> 
> Well, after some comments said that they wanted the story to continue and were awaiting the next update, and I felt a little bad. No, you didn't make me feel guilty, but when I started to think about the plotline I had going on, I realized I could do a lot more with this story.
> 
> So for now, this is the end of Arc 1, and maybe throughout the year, I'll work on Arc 2. Yes, I am planning on writing that smut (because I'm feeling confident as shit right now for some reason), and there will be a bit more character development and romance building. Is there a post date for the next chapter in sight? No, but there is the beginning of a nice part two for the story on the horizon.
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me, and I hope you'll enjoy what I have planned!


	9. AN - Attention

Since I want this story to keep its Teen rating, and it would feel _kind of_ out place considering the current plot line, I will be posting the smut chapter as a oneshot. It will be a part of the series that I am going to be making (it will just contain this story and the smut, that's it).

The title will be Same Emotions, Different Anatomy, and the warnings will be put in the description. Arc 2 won't be coming for a long time yet, as I have a BUNCH of work from school (I'm taking Algebra 2 Trig, Regents Chem, and a freaking English Honors class, so... yeah), but hopefully the smut will be posted in 1-2 weeks. Thank you for understanding and being patient with me. This chapter, like the last AN, will be deleted when Arc 2 is released to not interrupt the flow of the story.


End file.
